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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。
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Finning Canada has laid off 160 salaried staff in Alberta and B.C. as sales of Caterpillar equipment slows in the economic downturn.4 E4 z) P6 u1 w" m
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Every office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday.
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Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.5 ]: l4 I" `4 P& Q5 f ?$ o
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"It's the toughest decision we have to make in our business life, and it's been a hard few days for us," Hunt said.
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: C$ d6 L' Y0 ~+ {' E3 a- qIt brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.
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No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.
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+ t2 w1 V, Z+ `' J; k/ U! BIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.4 S) c) R) T* x# ~( c
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"That's the paradoxical thing. Even though things are changing, Fort McMurray (Alta.) is still growing, and we need more people up there," he said.
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"It's our customers who are going to get us through this, and that's the last place we want to cut."
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! H9 g- |8 b8 y; ^9 U3 ^0 iThe recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.+ q$ }) T7 m8 j
$ x7 d* U5 y2 T U+ A% J- `' v"We're still very busy in the oilsands."
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Hunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.
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They will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.' q* H* ?! G- A: a/ Y
7 d- m8 i9 j aThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.
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Mike Waites, CEO of Vancouver-based parent company Finning International Inc., recently lowered the 2008 earnings guidance due to a slowdown in some of its businesses in Western Canada and the United Kingdom.
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# @* L3 d; j: W1 G$ w. Q0 MDemand for new equipment will likely soften and some purchases may be deferred, but that will result in an increase in its parts and service business - Finning's most profitable business - he said.! f5 }3 s8 _ h$ f1 g
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Finning reported third-quarter net income of $64.8 million compared to $63.6 million for the same quarter last year. Revenues were a record $1.46 billion, compared to $1.33 billion a year before.( U/ ?2 F$ S2 J
+ S0 W' E$ n- n' qIts order backlog has also grown to a new record of $2 billion, dominated by mining equipment, "and provides good revenue visibility for 2009 and into 2010," Waites said. |
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